An assessment of oral pentazocine in severe pain.

The effects of oral administration of pentazodne were compared with those of non-DDA analgesics given orally and with those of DDA analgesics given orally and parenterally in patients with intractable pain, over a period of three days while awaiting treatment by percutaneous electrical cordotomy. The dose of pentazodne varied from 25-100 mg four times per day, comparisons being made with the previous treatment. The analgesic effect was assessed by direct questioning of the patients by a nurse assessment of the patients' comfort, and by the patients' opinion as to how well they slept during the night. A pain scoring system was used for comparing degrees of pain. The analgesic effectiveness of pentazodne approached that of oral and parenteral DDA analgesics. Nevertheless, the DDA analgesics were generally preferred by the patients. This may be attributable to the associated effects (e.g. euphoria) of these drugs.